GUN violence can be infectious: a teenager witnessing an incident is twice as likely to commit serious violence within two years, according to a US study. The findings give credence to the notion that gun-related violence is a public health issue and should be tackled like any other disease or epidemic, a stance long argued by advocates of gun control.
Previous studies have struggled to show a causal link between exposure to violence and violent behaviour. But Felton Earls of Harvard School of Public Health and his colleagues studied 1500 Chicago teenagers over a five-year period and were able to…
